News Release
GTPC awards Tualatin Hills Tennis Center new backboard
03/29/2012
The Greater Portland Tennis Council has replaced the 14-year-old tennis backboard at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center with a new, state-of-the-art backboard engineered to rebound the ball with arc, distance and timing to better simulate game conditions.
The gift, with a retail value of about $3,000, reflects the strong relationship between the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District and the GPTC, which work closely together to help facilitate opportunities for new players to enjoy tennis.
“If you can’t get a partner, you can still go out and hit the ball,” THPRD General Manager Doug Menke said. “It’s a wonderful, generous gift that makes the game more accessible to more people, which is what the GPTC is all about.”
Menke would know. He was at the table with club owners, local businesses and public entities, including THPRD, when the GPTC was established in 1988 to support the United States Tennis Association at the grass roots level.
Among its many endeavors, the Council helped fund construction of THPRD’s outdoor stadium court. It also sponsors and promotes youth tennis initiatives, including the USTA’s 10-and-under program. In addition, the GPTC organizes the Nike Tennis Championships of Oregon, the state’s largest tennis tournament, each July at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, West Hills Racquet & Fitness Club, and Mountain Park Racquet Club.
GPTC member Glenn Good designed, built and installed the new tilted and dual-curved backboard at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, which is located at THPRD’s Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex, 158th and Walker Road, Beaverton. Good calls it “the quietest wood backboard in the world.” It includes a three-foot net above the hitting surface to keep more balls in play.
In 2004, Good & Associates built a backboard for THPRD’s Mitchell Park in conjunction with the USTA’s “Backboards in the Parks” program. Thanks in part to that program, THPRD currently has backboards and/or hitting walls at 14 park sites, said Brian Leahy, Tennis Center supervisor.
Formed in 1955, THPRD is the largest special park district in Oregon, spanning about 50 square miles and serving more than 220,000 residents in the greater Beaverton area. The district provides year-round recreational opportunities for people of all ages and abilities. Offerings include a wide variety of classes, 90 park sites with active recreational amenities, 60 miles of trails, eight swim centers, six recreation centers, and 1,400 acres of natural areas. For more information, visit www.thprd.org or call 503/645-6433.
More information about the GPTC is available at gptc.usta.com.
| Contact: Bob Wayt Director – Communications 503/614-1218 (direct) 503/686-5134 (cell) |
Date: March 29, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Click here for official release (PDF). |
